MEMPHIS, NECROPOLIS OF ṢAKKÂRAH, ETC. Nefer-ka-ari-Rā, son of Rā, Kakaȧ, (of ப 205 UU; ;-many layers of stone have been stripped from its sides, and its ruins are now little more than 150 feet high. 16. Memphis, the Necropolis of Ṣaķkârah, The name is derived from the Egyptian Mennefer ВД whence we have the Coptic cup, the Hebrew Moph (Hosea ix, 6) and Noph (Isaiah xix, 13), and the Arabic Manûf. Other names were "White Wall" and "Balance of the Two Lands" and “House of the Ka of Ptah", Coptic Єkent&. The ruins of Memphis and the antiquities at Sakkârah are usually reached by steamer or train from Cairo to Badrashên, a village with 7,947 inhabitants, which lies about 14 miles south of Cairo. Leaving the river or station the village of Badrashên is soon reached, and a short ride brings the traveller to the village of Mît-Rahînah. On the ground lying for some distance round about these two villages once stood the city of Memphis, though there is comparatively little left to show its limits. According to Herodotus (ii, 99): "Menes, who first ruled over Egypt, in the first place protected Memphis by a mound; for the whole river formerly ran close to "the sandy mountain on the side of Libya; but Menes, beginning "about a hundred stades above Memphis, filled in the elbow towards "the south, dried up the old channel, and conducted the river into a canal, so as to make it flow between the mountains: this bend of "the Nile, which flows excluded from its ancient course, is still 'carefully upheld by the Persians, being made secure every year; "for if the river should break through and overflow in this part, "there would be danger lest all Memphis should be flooded. When "the part cut off had been made firm land by this Menes, who was "first king, he in the first place built on it the city that is now called Memphis; for Memphis is situate in the narrow part of Egypt; "and outside of it he excavated a lake from the river towards the "north and the west; for the Nile itself bounds it towards the east. "In the next place, they relate that he built in it the temple of "Vulcan, which is vast and well worthy of mention." (Cary's translation.) Whether Menes, in Egyptian Menȧ 4 built the town or not, it is quite certain that the city of Memphis was of most ancient foundation. The reason why the kings of Egypt established their capital there is obvious. From the peoples that lived on the western bank of the river they had little to fear, but on the eastern side they were always subject to invasions of the peoples who lived in Mesopotamia, Syria, and Arabia; with their capital on the western bank, and the broad Nile as a barrier on the east of it, they were comparatively safe. Added to this, its situation at the beginning of the Delta enabled it to participate easily of the good things of that rich country. The tract of land upon which Memphis stood was also fertile and well wooded. Diodorus speaks of its green meadows, intersected with canals, and of their pavement of ¡lotus flowers; Pliny talks of trees there of such girth that three men with extended arms could not span them; Martial praises the roses brought from thence to Rome; and its wine was celebrated in lands remote from it. The site chosen was excellent, for in addition to its natural advantages it was not far from the sea-coast of the Delta, and holding as it were a middle position in Egypt, its kings were able to hold and rule the country from Phile on the south to the Mediterranean on the north. Its name, "White Wall," calls to mind the "White Castle" spoken of by classical writers. Tetȧ, son of Menes, built his palace there, and Ka-Kau, the second king of the IInd dynasty, 4100 B.C., established the worship of Apis there. During the rule of the IIIrd, IVth, and VIth dynasties, the kings of which sprang from Memphis, that city reached a height of splendour which was probably never excelled. The most celebrated building there was the temple of Ptah, which was beautified and adorned by a number of kings, the last of whom reigned duri the XXVIth dynasty. The Hyksos ravaged, but did destroy the city; under the rule of the Theban kin expelled the Hyksos, the city flourished for a tim Thebes became the new capital. from his wars in the east, he set When Rames up a statue of the temple of Ptah there; Piankh besieged it; the Assyrian kings, Esarh banipal, captured it ; Cambyses the Persian, having wrought great damage there, killed the magistrates of the city and the priests of the temple of Apis, and smote the Apis bull so that he died; he established a Persian garrison there. After the founding of Alexandria, Memphis lost whatever glory it then possessed, and became merely the chief provincial city of Egypt. During the reign of Theodosius (379-395), a savage attack, the result of his edict, was made upon its temples and buildings by the Christians, and a few hundred years later the Muhammadans carried the stones, which once formed them, across the river to serve as building materials for their houses and mosques in their new city of Fusțâț, founded by 'Amr in 642. The circuit of the ancient city, according to Diodorus, was 150 stadia, or about 13 miles. In 1997, Professor Petrie began to excavate a portion of the site of Memphis. He traced out the enclosure of the temple of Ptaḥ, discovered a part of a temple of Hathor, cleared out a building of King Sa-Amen, and a building of Mer-en-Ptah, and located the site of the camp of Memphis, where he found the ruins of the palace of Apries, which is said to have covered two acres, and was probably built upon the remains of earlier palaces. recovered a number of bas-reliefs which illustrate the celebration of the Set Festival. The Colossal Statue of Rameses II.-This magnificent statue, the larger of the two Colossi that were discovered by Messrs. Caviglia and Sloane in 1820, was presented by them to the British Museum On account of its weight and the lack of public interes ch mats, it lay near the road leading from Badra became nearly co during the inund Mit the and little by little eposit of Nile mud; twas covered by the 1886-7 Sir Frederick Cairo for the purpose the difficult by Colone De hoe beloved of Åmen." By the side of the king are figures of a daughter and son of Rameses. Lord Kitchener intended to remove it to Cairo and set it up in the square in front of the Citadel, and his plan only broke down because no bridge was strong enough to carry the weight of this statue. The famous temple of Ptah founded by Menes was situated to the south of the statue. A portion of the other colossal statue lies comparatively near it. Close by is a huge limestone sphinx which was made under the rule of the kings of the XIXth dynasty. It is about 25 feet long and 14 feet high. Şakkârah. The name Sakkârah probably represents in sound the name of Seker an ancient Egyptian god of death. The tract of land at Sakkârah which formed the great burial ground of the ancient Egyptians of all periods is about 4 miles long and one mile wide; the most important objects of interest there are: (1) The Step Pyramid; (2) The Pyramid of Unas; (3) The Pyramid of Tetà; (4) The Pyramid of Pepi I; (5) The Pyramid of Mer-en-Rā; (6) The Pyramid of Pepi II; (7) The Serapeum; (8) The Tomb of Thi; (9) Tomb of Ptah-hetep; (10) Tomb of Kaqemna, etc.; (11) Mariette's house. 1. The Step Pyramid was built by the third king of Tcheser in the Tablet of the IIIrd dynasty (called H Abydos), who is said to have built a pyramid at Kochome (i.e., Ka-Kam), near Sakkârah. Though the date of this pyramid is not known accurately, we are undoubtedly right in asserting that it is older than the pyramids of Gîzah. The door which led into the pyramid was inscribed with the name of a king called Rā-nub, and M. Mariette found the same name on one of the stela in the Serapeum. The steps of the pyramid are six in number, and are about 38, 36, 34, 32, 31, and 29 feet in height; the width of each step is from 6 to 7 feet. The lengths of the sides at the base are: north and south, 352 feet; east and west, 396 feet; and the actual height is 197 feet. In shape this pyramid is oblong, and its sides do not exactly face the cardinal points. The arrangement of the chambers inside this pyramid is peculiar to itself. 2. The Pyramid of Unàs , called in Egyptian Nefer-åsu, lies to the south-east of the Step Pyramid, and was reopened and cleared out in 1881 by M. Maspero, at the expense of Messrs. Thos. Cook & Son. Its original height was about 62 feet, and the length of each side at the base 220 feet. Owing to the broken blocks and sand which lie round about it, Vyse was unable to give exact measurements. Several attempts had been made to break into it, and one of the Arabs who took part in one of these attempts, “Aḥmad the Carpenter," seems to have left his name inside one of the chambers in red ink. It is probable that he is the same man who opened the Great Pyramid at Gîzah, A.D. 820. A black basalt sarcophagus, from which the cover had been dragged off, and an arm, a shin-bone, some ribs, and fragments of the skull of the mummy of Unȧs, were found in the sarcophagus TOMB OF UNAS. chamber. The walls of the two largest chambers and two of the corridors are inscribed with ritual texts and prayers of a very interesting character. Unås, the last king of the Vth dynasty, reigned about 30 years. The Maṣṭabat al-Fir'âûn was thought by Mariette to be the tomb of Unås, but other scholars thought that the "blunted pyramid" at Dahshûr was his tomb, because his name was written upon the top of it. 3. The Pyramid of Teta (29), called in Egyptian Tet-ásu, lies to the north-east of the Step Pyramid, and was opened in 1881. The Arabs call it the Prison Pyramid, because local tradition says that it is built near the ruins of the prison where Joseph the patriarch was confined. Its actual height is about 59 feet, the length of each side at the base is 210 feet, and the platform at the top is about 50 feet. The |